Arts & Sciences

Riddle 4

by Anonymous (Old English) c. 7th–11th century

Translated by Benjamin Thorpe (1842) · From Exeter Book Riddles (selection)

Arts & Sciences

I shall a while busy,
my servant,
with rings confin'd,
sedulously obey,
my bed break,
with noise make known,
that me a neck-band
my lord has given.
Me oft sleep-weary
man or maid
went to greet ;
I them, cruel-hearted ones,
winter-cold answer.
The warm limb
the bound collar
sometimes escapes from ;
it is, however, grateful
to my servant,
a half wise man,
that me there
something torments,
and he to my words
effectually may
a saying say.

✦ ✦ ✦

Thorpe's Riddle V (first series, pp. 380–441, in his Codex Exoniensis, 1842); ASPR Riddle 4.

MLA

Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle 4.” Translated by Benjamin Thorpe. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/262/.

Chicago

Anonymous (Old English). “Riddle 4.” Translated by Benjamin Thorpe. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/anonymous-old-english/262/.

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